A special material that radiates an anti-magic field

[Thalantyr]

Hey there!

I was looking for opinions about introducing a special material that absorb or nullifies magic in my homebrew world, perhaps radiating an anti-magic field (although I'm open to suggestions about the how's). Kind like an antimagic shackles but more mundane and easier/cheaper to craft. I'm not using this to balance casters vs melee by the way, and I'm not planning on using it against the players, either. Don't get me wrong, I love magic and I know my **** about the system and magic being needed to overcome obstacles, and I would feel frustrated if a DM throw me that kind of thing over and over again. This is not the point of this post. I'm interested in the lore-building impact of that kind of material. How do you think that would affect a typical D&Desque world?

[DeTess]

This depends on how common the metal is. If it's common and easy to get, most people would line their hats with it to stop enchantment magic, for example,a s well as using it for countless other purposes, like divination-proofing stuff. If the material is more rare, it's probably only the rich and wealthy that can afford its protection. If it's super-rare (like: only a couple of kilos available in the entire world), then the impact on normal society would be absolutely 0, but the crown of an important religious leader or emperor might be lined with it to guarantee protection from mind-control.

Another thing to consider is whether it'd make good armor. If it does, and isn't super-rare, important people would wear suits of full-plate of the stuff when doing battle, but if it wouldn't make good armor, and can't be easily made to cover a suit of more regular plate, you might instead see it being worn by specialized mage-slayers and assassins, who sacrifice mundane protection for magical protection.

So, tl;dr the first thing you should ask yourself is how common the metal is, and what its mundane properties are.